Dispensing-container.



Patented Apr. 25,1916. 3 SHEETS-SHEET1 A. RoTH.

DISPENSiNG CONTAINER.

APPUcATloN FILED SEPT. 3, |915.

Patented Api. 25, 1916.

WITNESS ANDOR Borri, or NEW YORK, N. Y., AssIGNoR or ONE-HALF To rHnoDon-n FREUND, or' NEW YORK, N. Y.

DISPENSING-CONTAINER.

Application led September 3, 1915.

To all who/m, t may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDOR RTH, a subject of the King of Hungary, and a resident of the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dispensing-Containers, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a dispensing container, and more particularly to one adapted especially for holding lumps of sugar, cut or molded into substantially cube shape.

In lunch rooms and similar establishments each table is provided with a sugar bowl, from which the persons sitting at the table take the sugar lumps by the aid of a spoon or tongs in or near the bowl. The spoons or tongs, being handled daily by many persons, naturally create unsanitary conditions. Attention is called at the same time to the fact that many persons are apt to take sugar from the bowl by grasping the same with their fingers, thereby handling the mass of sugar in the bowl.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a container for lump sugar or similar articles, that is provided with a delivery mechanism carrying the lumps to a point of delivery where they can be grasped singly by the operator, thereby obviating the unsanitary conditions above mentioned.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this type which is simple in construction, efficient in operation, and which can be manufactured on a commercial scale, or in other words one which is not so diilicult to produce as to be beyond the reasonable cost of such an article.

lV ith these and other objects in view, which will more fully appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the combination, arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter fully described, qpointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that many changes may be made in the size and proportion of the several parts and details of construction within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 25, 1916.

Serial No. 48,779.

y A few of the many possible embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical central section taken through a dispensing container constructed in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, some parts being removed in order to more clearly show the construction; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a detail o-f its delivery mechanism or valve; Fig. at is a central vertical section taken through the modification of the invention; Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 5*?) of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a central vertical section taken through another modification of the invention; Fig'. 7 is a section taken on line 7 7 of Fig. 6; and Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a detail of 'the delivery mechanism of the device illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, the numeral 10 indicates the base of the apparatus, such base being somewhat heavy for obvious reasons. Upon this base is rotatably mounted an upwardly extending tubular standard 11, to which is attached or with which may be made integral a cylindrical casing 12, the latter supporting a receptacle or hopper 13, preferably made `of glass and having slanting walls, whereby the material indiscriminately placed thereinto will slide toward the casing 12. may be provided with a detachable cover 14. In the bottom of the casing 12 is provided a plurality of discharge openings 15, from which lead toward the base tubular chutes 16. Each of these chutes is provided at its discharge end with a. substantially troughshaped rack 17, that is provided in its sides with recesses 18, through which the operator is able to grasp by the aid of the fingers the lumps of sugar resting on said racks. Within the standard 11 is disposed a bar 19, its lower end being screwed into or otherwise fiXedly attached to the base 10, and its upper end projecting into the casing 12. To this bar is rigidly attached a delivery mechanism or valve 20, comprising a top disk 21 and a bottom disk-22, which are provided with registering apertures 23 and 24C, respectively, into which are fitted tubes 25. The bottom disk 22 is disposed a little disrlhis receptacle or hopper.

tance above the bottom of the casing 12, while the top disk 20 is arranged substantially flush with the upper edge of said casing. In the case illustrated in the drawings there have been shown four chutes and correspondingly the delivery mechanism or valve 20 'is provided with four tubes 25. The inner diameters of the tubes and those of the chutes are substantially the same, the dimensions being such that said tubes and chutes permit the passage of sugar cubes, one at a time, therethrough.

The operation of this device is as follows: The lumps of sugar, or other material, are placed into the hopper '13 indiscriminately. As the material is being placed into the said hopper, some of the lumps'will find their way into the tubes 25 of the valve 20. As now the hopper and the chutes carried thereby is given one or more turns, the lumps drop, one after the other, into the chutes 16 as their receiving ends or, in other words, their upper ends register with the tubes 25 of the valve. The lowermost lumpy in each chute rests on the respective rack. The lumps can be taken, one after the other, from the chutes. When the chutes are empty, it is simply necessary to give the hopper a few turns to ll the same.

A modiiication of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings, l

which differs from the one above described in that in this case the hopper and chutes are stationary, while the delivery mechanism or valve is being rotated. In this construction a base 26 is provided, from which rises a housing-like standard 27, to the latter being attached a cylindrical casing 28, supporting a hopper 29. In the bottom of the casing are formed two discharge openings 30, from which lead downward chutes 31, their lower ends terminating in racks 32. In the base is rotatably journaled stem 33, which extends through the housing-like standard 27 into the casing 28. To this stem is lixedly attached a delivery mechanism or valve 2O of the type above described. The means for rotating the valve comprises a shaft 34, rotatably jour- 'naled in the housing-like standard 27, and

provided at its inner end with a bevel gear 35, meshing with a similar gear 36, that is fiXedly attached tothe stem 33. The outer end of the shaft 34 carries a hand-wheel 37.

The operation of this device is as follows: By rotating the hand-wheel 37 in one or the other direction, the tubes 25 of the valve arebrought into registering positions with the chutes 31, whereby the lumps of sugar casing 28, and for this reason the delivery of the cubes to the chutes will not be as rapid as in the devices illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings, it being obvious that a lump of sugar falling into the tube in registering position with one of the chutes will be carried around 180o and fall into the other chute. It is to be observed that the tubes accommodate below the strips 39 each a lump of sugar.

What I claim is 1. A dispensing container comprising a base, a'cylindrical casing supported thereby having discharge openings in its bottom, tubular chutes leading from said discharge openings toward said base, each chute being provided at its discharge end with a substantially trough-shaped rack having in its sides recesses through which a single article fed can be taken hold of, a hopper communicating with said casing, and means in said casing for alternately opening and closing a communication between said hopper and the discharge openings in said casing.

2. A dispensing container comprising a base, a cylindrical casing supported thereby having discharge openings in its bottom, tubular chutes leading from said discharge openings toward said base, each chute being provided at its discharge end with a substantially trough-shaped rack having in its sides recesses through which a single article fed can be taken hold of, a hopper communicating with said casing, and a valve in said casing having apertures adapted to register with said discharge openings, said valve and casing being relatively movable, whereby a communication is alternately opened and closed between said hopper and said discharge openings.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 27th day of August, A. D. 1915. r

ANDOR ROTH.

Witnesses:

THnoDoRn FREUND, ARTHUR SZAB.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G. 

